Is Facebook Becoming the Bible?

My friend Phil, whom I’ve written about previously, is now my boyfriend Phil.He’s kind, supportive, and makes me laugh.He’s also seriously spiritual and prays with me every night. So, now you know!And, well, apparently the whole world knows thanks to a little faux pas I made on Facebook two nights ago.

I just wanted to take the relationship status bar off of my profile, with no intention of upgrading to “in a relationship” or anything else. Because the Facebook feed can be overwhelmingly stalkerish, though, I deftly changed almost every element in my profile as well to avert attention from any announcements.

It did not work.

Next to the small yellow highlighted changes to my work information, interests, and music was a conspicuous red heart proclaiming, “Shayna is no longer listed as single.”

Umm, thanks, Facebook.

My Inbox was flooded yesterday morning, and Phil’s phone was beeping all day will text messages and phone calls.

“It’s like Facebook is the Bible,” Phil wrote to me over email today.“It’s like it’s not truth until it hits the site!”

He was trying to be facetious, of course, but he was pretty much right. People who already knew we were dating—including our family members—suddenly were messaging to offer congratulations. Even friends who I haven’t seen or talked to in years were commenting on my photos and sending emails. I was beginning to wonder exactly how much time people were spending on Facebook.

I’ll admit to having to fight the urge to log into email or Facebook as soon as I wake up, but John 15:5 reminds us that “I [God] am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Distractions are prevalent in our technologically overwhelming world, but the only way to stay plugged in to God is to start our day the good old fashioned way—with devotion.This is the reason that I couldn’t start reading emails until yesterday afternoon. If I did, I would have been distracted enough to fly through my time with God and just jump right into gossiping and chatting. As entertaining as Facebook, myspace, and even theFlow can be, nothing can take the place of the time we spend with God.

I know it’s still summer vacation, but be honest with yourself.Have you spent more time today on Facebook or reading your Bible?